RICHMOND, Va. -- A Richmond judge has recused himself from a lawsuit filed to prevent the removal of the Lee Monument.
"I was unaware at the outset of the case that I lived in the Monument Avenue Historic District," Judge Bradley Cavedo wrote in a disqualification order filed on Thursday. "I conclude that the location of my home in the vicinity of the Lee Monument are may create the appearance of bias among song Virginians."
This is the second time Cavedo has disqualified himself from lawsuits involving the Lee monument. Earlier in July, Cavedorecused himself from presiding over the pending consolidation of two cases seeking to stop the removal of the Lee statue.
In June, the lawsuit temporarily halted plans to remove the statue of the Confederate general from Monument Avenue based on the original land deed signed in 1890.
The lawsuit, filed by William Gregory, who is the great-grandson of one of the original families that signed over the monument, alleges that Governor Ralph Northam and Virginia officials have failed to protect the Lee Monument grounds and that plans to remove the statue violate the original agreement.
The case has been reassigned to Judge W. Reilly Marchant.
